Research from West Berkshire and Wokingham Environmental Health and Licensing Service

October 2013

How many hoarders are there in West Berkshire (statistics from as many of the local authorities or equivalent contacts that you have access to would be great).

No information held in EH.

How many times on average do you clear a hoarders house?

The number of times a clearance is organised depends on the severity of the problem and the outcome of the case conference we are most likely to have had with our colleagues in the community mental health team (CMHT). From my experience it is not usually more than once, extreme examples twice.

How much, on average, does it cost to clear a hoarders house?

A rough estimate would be £10k, but obviously that would depend on the nature of the property and extent of the hoarding.

What other support do you currently offer to hoarders and their families?

Officers from EH are there to make sure there is not a risk to public health, the support provided to hoarders completely depends on the way in which they engage with the process. In any circumstances where there is considered to be a capacity issue, the CMHT will provide a judgement on the individual and their support network.

What other organisations do you currently work with in order to help clear hoarders houses?

From an EH perspective our only involvement with other organisations would be those actually involved in the clear up. I am not aware of any charities engaged by CMHT.

How are Environmental Health alerted to the hoarding issue or to a potential hoarder? (Via Landlord, neighbour, social services?)

Most often a referral from CMHT or a neighbour complaint.

Do you have statistics on how many hoarders homes you have cleared month by month over the past 5 years?